A Husband's Appreciation
by Blu Rose
Summary: When Yukio gets the rare chance to try and show how much he really loves Shiemi, he tries hard, and she loves him for that. (Yukio x Shiemi)(Oneshot)


**This was done for Day 6 of Shiemi Appreciation Week, which is supposed to be about our favorite Shiemi pairings, and instead of showing a link to the fic I did for Yukio Appreciation week, I did another Yukio x Shiemi fic. God help me, I was supposed to turn this in early, but Internet issues…! Let's just count this for the free topic Day 7, too…**

_Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist and its characters do not belong to me._

_Summary: When Yukio gets the rare chance to try and show how much he really loves Shiemi, he tries hard, and she loves him for that._

**X-X-X**

"Why do I have to wear this, Yuki?"

"I wanted this to be a surprise... Give me this, at least."

Shiemi tugged at the makeshift blindfold around her eyes. She wore an anxious smile as she heard the sound of glasses being put down. And why wouldn't she be anxious? Moments where they could be alone like this seemed to be rare for them these days, unfortunately. Yukio was often so slogged down with duties as an exorcist and a teacher at the cram school, Shiemi felt like all she could do was make sure he at least fell asleep in bed. And on the rarity that her husband had a day off, if she herself wasn't being sent off on a mission, then it was a day spent as a family with their toddler twins. Their only moments alone together seemed to be in their bedroom, and while Shiemi would never complain about the cuddling and kissing they shared under the sheets, sometimes a married woman wanted more.

So imagine how she reacted when she came home early from shopping to find Yukio beginning to set things up for a romantic lunch at home for the two of them. He'd been so adamant about making it a surprise, he had gone so far as asking her to not look. And when she couldn't resist getting a peek at what he was doing, the half-demon made her wear a blindfold and promise not to take it off.

Of course, that didn't deflate Shiemi's ballooning happiness. "Mmmm…! What are you making? It smells wonderful!" Shiemi said as she bounced excitedly on the chair.

"Thanks! I've only made this once before, so I hope you like it!" Wait. That voice…

"Rin? Is that you?"

A smacking noise was heard, followed by the sound of her brother-in-law crying out in pain. "What the hell, Yukio?!"

"You promised that you were going to remain quiet and not say anything…!" Shiemi heard her husband grumble. "Or need I remind you that I invited you here to look after my kids and instead you pawned it off on your six-year old?"

"You just did. I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Consider me invisible starting now…"

The brothers fell silent after that point and Shiemi assumed they had resumed working. When she heard the sound of more things being put down on the table, the blonde woman said, "So you asked Rin to look after the kids?"

Yukio groaned and she could just imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "That's what he was _supposed_ to do. But then he went about judging the food I made and said that it wasn't good enough. So he decided that he'd help me."

"Aww… I'd have loved to try some. I'm sure that what you made probably tasted just fine."

"He practically drowned the chicken in seasoning!" Came Rin's voice.

"_Rin_!"

"Right, right. Invisible! I am invisible!"

"If only you could be _mute_," Yukio grumbled.

"So Kazuki-chan's looking after the twins? Are you sure they're okay?" It felt natural for a mother to worry, and little Atsuhiko and Nagisa were still young. Shiemi began to tug on the blindfold. "Maybe I should check up on them." She felt a pair of hands stop her and put her own hands down on her lap.

"There hasn't been any crying since we started. They're fine." That little reassurance made Shiemi calm down a bit. Yukio continued, "For someone so young, Kazuki-chan is quite responsible, unlike his father." Rin didn't _say_ anything in response, but seconds later, Yukio added, "You're just proving how immature you can still be."

"If you have time to insult me, you have time to help me. So get your ass in here!" The older brother snapped.

"…Don't worry. It won't take much longer...hopefully." Shiemi listened to Yukio sigh before she heard him walk away. What followed after that was Rin instructing Yukio on what to do. The blonde woman began to hum to herself as it quieted down. After a while, she felt something touch her foot. "Hm?" The touching went further up her leg as baby-like cooing reached her ear. "Is that…Atsu-chan?" Shiemi pulled down the blindfold and looked down to find her baby girl standing next to her, one hand holding onto her leg for support while the other gripped the table leg. "Nagi-chan!" She picked up little Nagisa and sat the child on her knee. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be with Kazuki-chan."

Nagisa giggled and clapped her hands together before puckering her lips. The toddler attempted to lean forward, only to almost fall. Shiemi caught the child and brought her close to her face so she could kiss her on the forehead. Nagisa gave a shrill squeal of delight before she kissed her mother back.

"Shiemi? N-Nagisa!" Shiemi gave a sheepish smile as Yukio approached them. Nagisa puckered up her lips and reached out to her father. The brunette stared down at her in confusion. "How did you get down here? You'd have to go down the stairs!"

"My, aren't you getting to be a big girl? You can get down the stairs all by yourself now!" Her mother said with a smile.

"That's not really something to be happy about…"

"I'm sorry!" The married couple looked down at 6-year old Kazuki, who was looking ashamed. "I-I thought they were _both_ sleeping, so I went to the bathroom, but when I came back, she was gone!" The blue-haired boy said with a pout.

"It's okay, Kazuki-chan," Shiemi said as she stood up, holding Nagisa against her hip. "I'll help you put her to bed, okay?"

Yukio stepped in front of her. "Wait, I'll do that. You just sit down and relax."

"It's not a hassle. Besides, you know how fussy Nagi-chan can get when it comes to sleeping."

"No, no. For the rest of the afternoon, you can relax." The brunette took his daughter from his wife's grasp. "Come on, Kazuki-chan."

Shiemi watched as Yukio disappeared up the stairs with their child and nephew. With a sigh, she sat down at the table and began to pout. "Something wrong?" She looked up and saw Rin poking his head out of the kitchen.

"No! Nothing's wrong!" The blonde said, shaking her head. After a few seconds, she pouted and slumped over. "I'm glad that Yuki's going through the effort of doing this for me, but he doesn't have to do so much by himself…" She looked up at Rin, who was now in the doorway and wiping his hands off on the apron he was wearing. "Not that I'm not grateful to you for offering to help him!"

"Well, this is just Yukio's way of being romantic. He said that _you're_ always the one doing things like this for _him_ when he gets home, and it made him wonder what he's done for you these days. So he wanted to give you the same treatment." The blue-haired man growled under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "But, of course, he tries to do everything himself and make everything perfect. Really, I'm surprised he didn't give up when you came home early. Gotta admire that man's determination…"

"I just don't want him to wear himself out doing this."

"Why shouldn't he? This is the sort of thing husbands do when they wanna show their wives how much they care, isn't it? Whether Yukio wears himself out or not, so long as you're happy in the end, _he'll_ be happy." Rin then got a mischievous look on his face. "Besides, while you're at it, you could probably get 'em to wait on you hand and foot! Who doesn't like that?"

"Oh, no! I couldn't do that!"

"Eh, suit yourself."

"I thought you were invisible," Yukio's voice came from the top of the stairs. Both Rin and Shiemi looked up at the brunette, the former flinching as he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

"Y'know, you're quite the slave driver even though I _volunteered_ to do this," said Rin. When Yukio opened his mouth to say something else, the older brother held up his hands and said, "I know, I know I'm invisible. I'll just slink back into the kitchen," as he backed up.

Shiemi laughed to herself before she realized that her blindfold was off. She started to put it back on when Yukio spoke up, "You don't have to do that anymore. At this point, it's pointless."

"But…you wanted so much for this to be a surprise! I don't want your hard work to go to waste."

She watched as the brunette man put on a bitter smile after reaching the bottom of the stairs. "More like _Rin's_ hard work. So far, all I've really done is put out plates and glasses…" Without Yukio's noticing, Shiemi had gotten up from her seat, walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around him in a tight squeeze.

"But this was all _your_ idea, right?" The blonde woman asked, looking up at him with a smile. "Rin might have offered his help, but it's _you_ who wants to show how much he cares! That alone makes me so happy!" Yukio began to blush, which made Shiemi smile even brighter as she let go of her husband. "So! While you get back to preparing, I'll just put on my blindfold and take a seat, so that I can be all the more surprised!" She said as she tied the blindfold around her eyes again and attempted to move…which may have been a bad idea, because she soon stumbled forward. "Ah!" Shiemi felt something grab hold of her arm, but she still fell over, and something heavy landed right on top of her.

"Ngh…! Are you okay, Shiemi?" She heard Yukio ask.

"I'm fine…" The blonde wasn't sure what position she was in with her husband, but from the sensation she felt on one of her breasts, it was a good thing the children were upstairs.

"Whoa! What the hell're you _doing_?! There are _kids_ in the house, for the love of God!" Rin was still nearby in the kitchen, though.

Shiemi felt her face heat up as her husband told her brother-in-law to _'be invisible'_ again. She felt him lift her up, and in seconds, she was placed in a sitting position. The fact that she was blindfolded didn't stop the image of being carried bridal style appearing in her mind. She smiled as Yukio promised that lunch would be ready soon-hopefully. She sat there, humming happily to herself while Yukio began snapping at his brother. When her husband tried to show his affection, he certainly tried his hardest, and she loved him for that.

**X-X-X**

_Little Notes:_ Nagisa means "beach". Atsuhiko is made up of the words for "warm" (atsui) and "boy" (hiko).


End file.
